Storm (Storm MC 1)

Oh, good god. What was his fucking problem now? “Why?” I maintained my calm.

“Babe, we’re together, are we not?”

“Yes, but - ”

“No buts. We’re together. So, when something like that happens, we handle it together.”

My stomach fluttered, and want pooled there. He had stunned me. “Okay,” I half whispered.

“Good,” he said, and then his features softened. “I’ve got a long day today, but I want us to talk tonight.”

I nodded, the fight gone from me. “Yeah, baby.”

He reached out and curved his arm around my waist, pulling me to him. “I love you,” he murmured, and his lips met mine in a hard kiss.

“I love you too,” I said, and then he was gone.

I watched him go, my thoughts and feelings in turmoil. J had not reacted at all how I thought he would. A glimmer of hope peeked out; maybe there was a chance for us after all.

Chapter 24

Madison

J arrived home after ten that night. I had been sleeping on and off, on the couch, waiting for him. He came into the house and headed straight into the bedroom. I waited silently for him to come back out; I had absolutely no idea where tonight’s conversation was headed.

“You’ve had dinner?” he said, as he came back into the lounge room.

“Yeah. I made you some if you haven’t eaten.”

He smiled at me, and I let that settle over me, and wrap itself around my heart. If we were going to get anywhere tonight, I would need to keep a hold of that. I feared we were in for another tense discussion.

?

?Thanks, baby. I ate with the boys, so I’ll put it in the fridge for tomorrow,” he said, as he went to the kitchen to take care of it.

I got up and followed him; the need to be near him overwhelming. He turned to me when he heard me enter the kitchen behind him. I stepped into his space, and wrapped my arms around him, inhaling his scent and brushing his neck with my lips.

A groan escaped his lips, and his arms encircled me too. He bent to lay a kiss on my head, and then he murmured, “I was so worried about you yesterday, and relieved when I found out you were okay. But babe, you scared the fuck out of me by drinking.”

I pulled away a little bit so that I could look into his eyes. “I’m so sorry. I think I scared myself too, and I’m so ashamed,” I admitted.

He reached his hand out to my chin, and held it gently; tenderly. “Don’t be ashamed. Okay? You need to move past this and that won’t help you. It was a bad day, and yeah, you didn’t handle it the best. But babe, we all have days like that. It’s how you handle it now, and the next time it happens, that counts. And, I need you to know that I am here for you. I want to be the person you turn to when shit gets real. Can you let me be that for you?”

The tears started falling, and I was helpless to stop them. I nodded, struggling to speak. Finally, the words came. “I thought you were going to leave me,” I said, quietly.

Pain flashed in his eyes. “Fuck, babe. No, that thought hadn’t even crossed my mind. Yeah, I was mad as hell at you, but this, what we’ve got here...this is for-fucking-ever. I love you no matter what you do. It’s unconditional for me.”

I sagged against him at those words; that promise. He would never know how much I needed to hear that, right now. “Thank you.”

“We’re going to have a lot more fights. You know that, right?” he said.

I smiled. “Yeah, I’ve worked that out.”

“So we need to agree right fucking now that this is forever, that we’re on the same page here. Are you in this for the long haul?”

I touched my hand to his cheek and let it linger there. “Yes, I am. I love you. Unconditionally.”

He bowed his head and breathed hard for a moment. Then he looked back up at me. The love I saw there smacked into me, and I felt winded momentarily. “You have no idea how much I needed to hear that,” he said, his voice full of raw emotion.